5 Verbs

Most verbs describe actions, so they are called action verbs. Action verbs tell
what people or things are doing. Here are some common action verbs.

drink look jump swim fall

eat shout walk throw climb
laugh run sit catch dance

Subject and Verb Agreement

When you use a verb, you have to say who or what is doing the action. This
‘who or what’ is the subject of the verb. The subject and the verb match each
other. You say that the subject and the verb agree when they match each other.

◗ Use a singular verb if the subject is a singular noun. For example, the
subjects ‘my dad’ or ‘our school’, or any of the pronouns he, she or it, require
a singular verb. Most singular verbs end in s. Look at the subjects and their
verbs in these examples. The subjects are in bold and the verbs are in color.

He always drinks milk when he’s hot.

She eats bananas for breakfast.
Mom walks to work every day.
My sister dances like a professional dancer.
The baby falls when she tries to walk.
Our cat climbs the trees in our garden.

This form of the verb is called the third person singular. You use it when
the subject of the verb is not you or the person you are speaking to, but some
other person—a third person—or a thing.
Here are some more third person singular verbs that end in s.

plays sings shines rides smiles

draws paints blows thinks stops
reads rains travels talks starts

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 Verbs : Subject and Verb Agreement

◗ The third person singular form of some verbs is made by adding es at the
end. Some examples are verbs that end in sh, ch, ss, x, zz and o.

brushes watches kisses fixes

rushes reaches misses mixes
polishes teaches passes buzzes
crashes catches presses does
washes touches dresses goes

Here are some sentences with verbs in their third person singular form.
The subjects are in bold and the verbs are in color.

She always brushes her teeth at bedtime.

Dad polishes his shoes until they shine.
My brother watches television after school.
Kim catches the ball with one hand.
Dad mixes flour and water when he makes bread.
The bee buzzes around the flowers.
My friend Sanjay goes to the same school as I do.

◗ How do you make the third person singular form of most verbs that end in y?
Usually, you just change the y to an i and then add es.

carry – carries hurry – hurries copy – copies

cry – cries fly – flies marry – marries
study – studies worry – worries bully – bullies

A cat carries its kitten with its mouth.

Mr. Chen hurries to work every morning.
The baby cries a lot at night.
This plane flies to the island every day.
Alice tries hard at school.
She copies all the questions in her notebook.

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Verbs : Subject and Verb Agreement

◗ Some verbs that end in y have a vowel before the y. Just add an s at the end
of these words to make the third person singular form.

buy – buys say – says pray – prays

pay – pays annoy – annoys stay – stays

Mom buys bread at the supermarket.

Mr. Carter pays all his bills with a credit card.
My friend says he has a salt-water aquarium.
She annoys me with her silly jokes.
Anna stays with her aunt on weekends.

◗ If the subject of a verb is a plural noun, such as “Mom and Dad” or “our
teachers”, use a plural verb. Do not add s, es or ies to plural verbs. Plural
verbs are also used with the pronouns I, we, you and they.

Mom and Dad love us.

My sisters listen to music a lot.
The stars shine brightly on a clear night.
Some people drink tea.
I like juicy hamburgers.
We learn interesting things at school.
You all know the words to this song, children.
They always walk home from school together.

◗ Suppose the subject of a noun refers to a group of people. Depending on the

meaning of the sentence, you may use either a singular or a plural verb.

The audience was enjoying the play.

N o t e s
The audience have all gone home.
Words that refer to groups of people
The class has thirty students. or animals are called collective
The class are handing in their papers. nouns. Here are some more
examples:
The band is performing until midnight.
The band were arguing among crowd committee herd
themselves. crew litter flock

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 Verbs : Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

◗ Some verbs have an object. The object of a verb is the person or thing that is
affected by the action of the verb. Look at this sentence:

Alice eats a banana for breakfast.

▲ ▲ ▲
The subject The verb is the The object is affected
does the action action word by the action

The subject of the verb is Alice. She is the person who does the action: she
eats. The object of the verb is a banana. A banana is affected by the action
of the verb. So in this sentence, the object of the verb ‘eat ’ is ‘a banana’.
Verbs that have objects are called transitive verbs.

Here are some sentences with transitive verbs. The verbs are printed in bold
and their objects are printed in color.

John likes apples. Sam knows the answer to the question.

My sister cooks all our meals. My brother rides his bike in the street.
Dad buys tea at the market. Mom writes stories in her spare time.

◗ Some verbs don’t have an object. A verb that does not have an object is
called an intransitive verb. Here are some sentences with intransitive verbs.

In China, lots of people walk to work.

The boys play in the yard after school.
Mr. Carter always drives very carefully.
Doris is a very successful businesswoman.
Michael and I both entered the race. He won but I lost.

◗ Some verbs can be either transitive or intransitive. Notice that the transitive
meaning and the intransitive meaning are sometimes different.

transitive verbs intransitive verbs

The pilot flies the plane very well. Eagles fly high in the sky.
The boys play football on weekends. The boys play in the yard on weekends.
My mom runs her own company. My mom runs in the park for fun.
We walk the dog every evening. We walk on the beach every evening.
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 Exercise 1

Read the following sentences. Underline the verb in each sentence.

1. We live in an apartment on the boulevard.

2. Some children learn very fast.

3. We go for swimming lessons on Sunday.

4. I like my new bike.

5. Babies sometimes sleep during the day.

6. My dad buys a newspaper every morning.

7. These dolls belong to Kathleen.

8. I often walk to school with my dad.

9. My sister plays the piano very well.

10. Sarah sometimes reads in bed at night.

Exercise 2

Fill in the blank spaces with the third person singular form of the verbs in parentheses.

Example: Ali looks (look) sad today.

1. Sumiko (speak) English very well.

2. Mr. Kim (come) to school on his motorbike.

3. My neighbor’s dog (bark) very loudly.

4. My little brother always (brush) his teeth properly.

5. Dad is so tall that his head almost (touch) the ceiling.

6. Our dog (catch) the ball in its teeth.

7. Mom (mix) vinegar and oil to make salad dressing.

8. Sally (try) not to disturb her brother when he’s reading.

9. Dad (buy) his newspaper from the store on the corner.

10. Her music (annoy) me when I’m doing my homework.

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 Exercise 3

Underline the verbs in the following sentences. Then show whether the verb is transitive
or intransitive by putting a checkmark (✓) in the correct box. Remember that depending
on the meaning, some verbs can be either transitive or intransitive. For each of the
transitive verbs you have marked, write the object of the verb on the lines. The first one
is done for you.
intransitive transitive object
verb verb
1. My brother and I often play chess. ✓ chess

2. Mom and Dad work in the garden on weekends.

3. The library closes at 5 P.M.

4. Mr. Ross drives his car very carefully.

5. The cat jumped over the wall.

6. My sister likes her new jeans.

7. Grandad walks the dog every evening.

8. Will you come with me to the shop?

9. The boys are skating in the park.

10. Dad is making sandwiches.

11. The children went to bed.

12. We buy our food at the supermarket.

13. Sally found a good hiding place.

14. They are learning to speak English.

15. Anna was reading an interesting book.

16. On weekends, I usually go to the beach with Dad.

17. The cat is sleeping under the tree.

18. They pushed the cart into the shed.

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 Verbs : am, is and are

am, is and are

The words am, is and are are the simple present forms of the verb be.
n Use am with the pronoun I.
n Use is with singular nouns like ‘my dad’ and ‘the teacher’, and with the
pronouns he, she and it.
n Use are with plural nouns like ‘my parents’ and ‘Jenny and Mary’, and with
the pronouns we, you and they.

I am twelve. The children are asleep.

I am in the garden. Computers are very expensive.
My mom is very tired today. My brother and I are upstairs.
The teacher is tall. We are in our bedrooms.
She is also pretty. You are my best friend.
Our dog is black. You and David are my best friends.

Here is a table to help you remember how to use is, am and are.

singular plural
first person I am we are
second person you are you are
third person he is they are
she is they are
it is they are

N o t e s
There are short ways of saying and writing You can use these contractions to replace
am, is and are with pronouns. These short am, is and are when they are used
forms are called contractions. with not:

full form short form full form short form

I am I’m I am not I’m not

you are you’re he is not he isn’t
he is he’s she is not she isn’t
she is she’s it is not it isn’t
it is it’s we are not we aren’t
we are we’re you are not you aren’t
they are they’re they are not they aren’t

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Verbs : there is and there are

there is and there are

Use there with is and are to say what exists or what you can have. Use there is
with singular nouns, and there are with plural nouns.

There is a tree in our garden. N o t e s

There is a girl called Farah in my class. The contraction for
There is fish for dinner. there is is there’s.

There is nothing to do when it rains.

There’s a cat sitting on the bench.
There’s a boy in my class who can walk on his hands.
There are cows in the field.
There are some very big ships in the harbor today.

Exercise 4

Look at the pairs of subjects and verbs below. Then write a sentence using each subject
with the simple present form of the verb. Remember that you can also use the simple
present tense to talk about the future.

Example: Dad goes to work on his bike.

subject verb

1. Dad go

2. My brother ride

3. The dog watch

4. The bus leave

5. Tom and Sam buy

6. We eat

7. Aunt Grace come

8. Our neighbor like

9. The boys start

10. My family travel

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 Exercise 5

Complete the following sentences by writing am, is or are in the blank spaces.

1. The weather beautiful today.

2. All the children on the playground.

3. Boys! You always late for class.

4. you on the basketball team, too?

5. Nobody in my class interested in football.

6. this computer more expensive than that one?

7. Sally my best friend.

8. Mom and Dad downstairs watching television.

9. Paul and Henry in the computer room.

10. The Eiffel Tower the tallest monument in Paris.

Exercise 6

Read the following passage. Fill in there’s, there are, there isn’t or there aren’t in the
blank spaces.

I like playing in our park because some great things to play on.

a big chute to slide on and a huge sandbox to play in.

also some swings. Dogs are not allowed in the park so no dogs to bother us.

also a lot of space for us to run around. It sometimes gets hot because

many trees to give shade, but a fountain where we can drink

water. It’s the best place in the town for children. another place as good as

the park.
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 Exercise 7

Rewrite the following sentences using contractions. The first one has already been
done to help you.

1. It is another sunny day today.

It’s another sunny day today.

2. This is my sister. She is five.

3. I am not very interested in sports.

4. She is not my best friend. You are my best friend.

5. Cats are not as noisy as dogs.

6. We are busy doing our homework.

7. She is busy cleaning the car in the garage.

8. Our teacher is not very tall.

9. My parents are not home from work yet.

10. My friend is not very good at math.

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Verbs : was and were

was and were

The words was and were are the simple past forms of the verb be.

n Was is the simple past form of am and is. Use was with singular nouns like
‘my dad’ and ‘the teacher’, and with the pronouns he, she and it.
n Were is the simple past form of are. Use were with plural nouns like ‘my
parents’ and ‘Jenny and Mary’, and with the pronouns we, you and they.
Ten years ago, I was only a baby.
When I was younger, I played with teddy bears.
My friend was ill yesterday.
Mom was angry when she saw the broken vase.
It was very wet on Monday.
It was six o’clock when we got home.
We were away on vacation last month.
John and I were in the garden.
You were nasty to me!
You and Sally were not at school yesterday.
Dinosaurs were prehistoric animals.
Those were my best jeans. N o t e s

You may use these contractions

Here is a table to help you remember when you are combining was and
how to use was and were. were with not.

full form short form

singular plural
I was not I wasn’t
first person I was we were he was not he wasn’t
second person you were you were she was not she wasn’t
third person he was they were it was not it wasn’t
she was they were we were not we weren’t
it was they were you were not you weren’t
they were not they weren’t

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 Exercise 12
Write was or were in the blank spaces in the following passage.

It a beautiful summer’s day and there n’t a cloud in the sky.

Mom, Dad and I all in the garden. Dad in the vegetable

garden planting some seeds and Mom and I busy with other jobs. The

sun hot and soon I feeling very tired. Mom and Dad

n’t tired at all. They went on working for a long time. I

glad when it time to go inside and have a drink.

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 Verbs : have, has and had

have, has and had

◗ The verb have is used to say what people own or possess.

n Use have with the pronouns I, we, you and they, and with plural
nouns such as ‘my parents’ and ‘Tom and Susan’.

n Use has with the pronouns he, she and it, and with singular nouns
such as ‘my dad’ and ‘the teacher’.

I have two brothers and one sister.

N o t e s
Monkeys have long tails.
The words have and
My sister and I have a swing in our garden. has are the simple
present forms of the
John has a big brother.
verb have.
Sally has a pretty face.
An elephant has a long trunk. It also has big ears.
His brother has dark hair.
Our apartment has big windows.

◗ Use have to talk about things that people do or get.

I can’t play football because I have a broken leg.

We have art lessons on Mondays.
You have a stain on your shirt.
They have the desks nearest the teacher.
Peter has a sore knee.

◗ You also use have to talk about things that people eat.

We usually have lunch at school.

Mom and Dad sometimes have their breakfast in bed.
Jenny often has sandwiches for lunch.
She sometimes has cola to drink.
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Verbs : have, has and had

◗ Here is a table to help you remember how to use have and has.

singular plural

first person I have we have

second person you have you have
third person he has they have
she has they have
it has they have

◗ The simple past tense form of have and has is had.

I had a big toy car when I was small.

It was sunny so we had lunch in the garden.
They had a wonderful holiday in Europe.
Sally and I had chicken for dinner.
The boys had a fight in the playground.
Dad had a sore back yesterday.
She had long hair when I saw her a year ago.
Our cat had three kittens last week.

◗ Use had when you're talking about wishes.

I wish I had a new bike.

Kathleen wishes she had a big sister.
Dad wishes he had a bigger garage.
The boys wish they had more space to play football in.

◗ You can make the negative with didn’t have.

I wish I didn’t have so much homework.

Jack wishes he didn’t have a broken leg.
Dad wishes he didn’t have to work on weekends.
Do you wish you didn’t have English classes today?
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Verbs : do, does and did

do, does and did

◗ The verb do is used to talk about actions. The words do and does are the
simple present forms of the verb do.

n Use do with the pronouns I, we, you and they, and with plural
nouns such as ‘my parents’ and ‘Tom and Susan’.
n Use does with the pronouns he, she and it, and with singular nouns
such as ‘my dad’ and ‘the teacher’.

I always do my homework after dinner.

I do drawings with colored pencils.
We do our shopping at the supermarket.
You do magic tricks very well.
They do their housework on the weekend.
Mom and Dad do the cooking together.
Jim and Alan always do well in math tests.
The artist does beautiful paintings.
She does very interesting work.
He does the washing and she does the cooking.
Julie always does her exercises before breakfast.
My friend Hannah does karate at a local gym.

The vacuum cleaner does a better job than the broom.

Here is a table to help you remember how to use do and does.

singular plural
first person I do we do
second person you do you do
third person he does they do
she does they do
it does they do

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 Verbs : do, does and did

◗ The simple past form of do is did.

I did my homework but forgot to take it to school.

Sally did her hair in front of the mirror.
The boys did very badly in their spelling test.
Paul and Roger did some magic tricks for us.
The children did the housework while their parents relaxed.

◗ To make the negative form of verbs in the simple present tense, use do and
does with not.

I do not have any brothers or sisters.

We do not want any more bread, thank you.
My brother and I do not like football.
You see beautiful mountains in Scotland but you do not see much sunshine.
Mom does not buy our food at that supermarket.
Jenny does not eat lunch at school because she does not like the food.
My cat does not make as much noise as your dog.

◗ The simple past tense of does not and do not is did not. The contraction is
didn’t.

Maggie did not have long hair when I first met her.
I got sunburned because I did not wear my hat.
The teacher didn’t give us any homework.
Mom and Dad didn’t buy me a cell phone for my birthday.
You didn’t take the dog for a walk last night.

N o t e s

Here are the contractions you can use when do, does and did are used with not.

full form short form full form short form

I/we do not I/we don’t I/we did not I/we didn’t

you do not you don’t you did not you didn’t
they do not they don’t they did not they didn’t
he/she/it does not he/she/it doesn’t he/she/it did not he/she/it didn’t

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 Exercise 20

Complete the following sentences with do, does or did.

1. I always my homework in my room.

2. Mom and Dad usually the laundry together.
3. You the same math problems last week.
4. We always our shopping at the farmers' market.
5. The children their work quietly while the teacher looks at their
homework.
6. Uncle David magic tricks when he comes to visit.
7. Last night, Mom her exercises before bedtime.
8. Anna played the piano and Rachel a lively dance.
9. Kamal always well in math tests.
10. If John the cooking, will you the dishes?

Exercise 21

Complete the following sentences with the contractions don’t, doesn’t or didn’t.

1. Katy go to school on the bus.

2. I like chocolate ice cream.
3. If the weather improve, we’ll have the party indoors.
4. worry about the mess. It does not matter.
5. I answer all the questions on the math test.
6. Mom and Dad work on weekends.
7. My sister and I visit Grandma last Sunday.
8. My friend John finish his homework yesterday.
9. Our neighbors like dogs very much.
10. Our teacher speak Japanese.
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